“What do you mean?” she asked. This time Alvin managed to hold on a bit longer, until his cheeks deflated and shriveled. The tall-woman-with-the-chin-hair patted him on the head. “Tell me, sweetie, tell me.”

“She said other parents let someone else look after their kids because they can’t be bothered to do it themselves.”

“And your mom keeps you close because she loves you? That’s what she said?”

Alvin bobbed his head up and down in a dramatic nod.

“Holy crap,” the woman mumbled. “And you’re fine with it? Spending all day in this dump of a station? Not going to school?”

“Yes,” Alvin replied, arching his thin eyebrows and curving his mouth into a crooked grin. “Yes, yes, yes,” he repeated. He wanted her to stop asking about the outside world. The thought of things that happened outside the borders of the central bus station was unnerving. Sometimes he’d peek out the large windows, gazing curiously at the buildings in front of him. He could tolerate them, had come to terms with their existence, but not with whatever was behind them, everything he couldn’t see. He had once tried to imagine that infinite black stain, and for the first time in his life felt the unsettling presence of nothingness.

“What are you doing?!” the tall-woman-with-the-chin-hair shrieked. His fingers were covered in white fur. “Why did you rip out her fur?” she grumbled, grabbing Alvin’s small hand. There was a pink, exposed patch of skin on the possibly-rabbit’s back. The woman pulled him forcefully and sat him down on the nearby bench. Alvin lowered his gaze, his eyes reddening. “It can’t go on like this, Alvin. Do you understand what I’m saying?” the woman scolded. “You understand it can’t go on like this?”

“Whatever,” Alvin grumbled. “I don’t even want her.”

The tall-woman-with-the-chin-hair sat down silently beside Alvin. Then she suggested they name the possibly-rabbit, said Peter sounded nice to her, but Alvin just shrugged. They were both quiet for a while longer, Alvin gently stroking the possibly-rabbit, but only with one finger. The tall-woman-with-the-chin-hair gave him a kiss on the head. Said he was adorable. Alvin was focused on the tiny animal who was lying on her side, thinking how she was even smaller than the RC Cola can his mother used to treat him to once a week. When he looked up, the tall-woman-with-the-chin-hair was no longer there. She had left the lighter with the naked woman on it behind. Alvin looked at the picture, put the lighter in his pocket and went out for a little stroll, holding the plastic Tupperware box in both hands.

2.